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A.I.
Artificial intelligence, abbreviated A.I., is an artificially created construct that exhibits intelligence similar to a sentient being. AIs were known to be used by the Forerunners, and later by humanity to a great extent. The first generation "Smart" A.I.s were developed by humanity in the mid-21st century. Most A.I. constructs give themselves a unique appearance (otherwise known as an avatar) that corresponds to their main use. Creation The process of creating an A.I. is different to what most people realize. Instead of simply "programming" a "Smart" A.I., the A.I. matrix is actually created by sending electric bursts through the neural pathways of a human brain which are then replicated in a superconducting nano-assemblage in a process known as Cognitive Impression Modeling. This destroys the original brain tissue however, and so the brain being used could only be obtained after the host had died. However, in some instances, as in the case of the A.I. Cortana, the candidate brain was flash-cloned and had its memories transferred to the receptacle organs so that the host, in this case Dr. Catherine Halsey, could remain alive. However, this is extremely inefficient. In the case of Cortana, out of twenty of Dr. Halsey's cloned brains, only two of them took. It should be noted that Dr. Halsey supervised the creation of the template for every third-generation "Smart" A.I. on the planet Reach. She has extensive knowledge on how A.I.s work. Smart and Dumb A.I.s "Smart" A.I.s, or A.I.s that are not confined to their one purpose, have a normal operational life span of about seven years. Because the "Smart" A.I. is subject to an established memory core which cannot be replaced, the more the A.I. collects data, the less "thinking" space it has to work with. An A.I. will literally "think" itself to death. Dumb A.I.s do not have this problem as they do not learn anything that is outside of their set limits of dynamic memory processing matrix. They are quite useful in their particular field of expertise, but very limited. Smart A.I.s can function and learn as long as they are active. DesignEdit It is technically unclear exactly how an A.I. works, as it is only based on the functionality of a human brain, which UNSC scientists do not fully understand. AIs do not have physical bodies, rather they are advanced software consisting of a Riemann Matrix for higher-function processing. This matrix can be downloaded into a Data Crystal Chip for mobility. In case of Rampancy, the Riemann Matrix has a fail-safe program that will destroy the A.I. Since A.I.s must be created by mapping out the connections of a human brain, it seems likely that the UNSC does not have an understanding of how to create A.I.s from scratch, and is limited to simply "copying" the intelligence of biological organisms. In the real world, this is an established possibility for creating artificial intelligence. They can only take physical form where holographic technology is available. This requires a Holotank of some kind. Because "Smart" A.I.s are created using either actual human brains or cloned human brains, there are often times residual thoughts, memories and/or feelings that remain. These residuals can be anywhere from the "feeling" of a hair brush being pulled through hair, in the case of Sif, or even have an effect on the mannerisms and characteristics that make up the personality of an A.I., in the case of Cortana and her likeness to Dr. Catherine Halsey. Human A.I.sEdit Other than the two types, "Dumb" and "Smart," human A.I.s are given certain purposes. Over the course of a few hundred years, humans have developed a highly advanced understanding of this type of technology, and are capable of creating intelligent and nearly sentient "Smart" A.I.s. However, these beings are not the result of actual programming, they can only be created by "copying" a human intelligence, which is only possible by destroying the original brain. The most sophisticated of human A.I.s are sometimes considered to be comparable to known Forerunner A.I.s. Human Smart A.I.s have an "expiration" date of seven years. Once they have reached this age, they will become very susceptible to rampancy, as has been demonstrated in the Insurrectionist A.I. Juliana. This time limit can (in theory) be prevented, or at least subdued, by having the A.I. focus on one thing. In the case of Juliana, the Rubble and its inhabitants. It is unknown whether this limitation is also apparent in Forerunner A.I.s, but it is unlikely. If this time limit did exist in Forerunner A.I.s, it would most likely be much longer than seven years. The "seven years" is also another obvious reference to Bungie's favorite number. Humans use A.I.s, both "Smart" or "Dumb", to perform a variety of specific tasks. These include, but are not limited to, controlling planetary shipping operations, like Sif, managing agricultural operations, like Mack, or serving as a Planetary Security Intelligence, like Loki. One example of civilian use for "Dumb" A.I.s is managing an entire city's infrastructure. These constructs are known as Urban Infrastructure A.I.s. All of Earth's tether cities are managed with the help of such construct. Urban Infrastructure A.I.s perform a wide variety of basic tasks, examples such as driving the city's garbage trucks to operating the traffic lights. They can also work in cooperation with the UNSC Marines if needed. One example of this is the Battle of Mombasa, when New Mombasa's A.I., the Superintendent, assisted the UNSC forces in the city in fighting off the Covenant. The Cole Protocol states that capture of an A.I. by the Covenant is unacceptable. When in danger of capture, A.I.s are to be terminated and completely erased. However, the A.I. Cortana did find what seemed to be an extremely fragmented copy of a human A.I. stationed in the Covenant flagship, Ascendant Justice.